Care area generation for inspecting integrated circuits

Abstract

Methods and systems for inspecting integrated circuits are provided. The method includes generating care areas that each includes at least one potential defect, organizing the generated care areas based on a first set of spatial relationships to provide a list of neighboring care areas, wherein each neighboring care area is an entry within the list, and generating a recipe file of the list, wherein each neighboring care area is inspected sequentially using a high-resolution inspection system. The system comprises a memory including instructions executable by a processor to: generate care areas that each includes at least one potential defect, organize the generated care areas based on a first set of spatial relationships to provide a list of neighboring care areas that are each an entry within the list, and generate a recipe file of the list, wherein each neighboring care area is inspected sequentially using a high-resolution inspection system.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for inspecting potential defects in integrated circuits using a high-resolution inspection system that performs only beam deflection when scanning within any field of view (FOV) and performs stage movement when transitioning to scan within another FOV, the method comprising:
 generating care areas that each includes at least one potential defect of the potential defects, wherein generating the care areas comprising:
 grouping the potential defects into the care areas so as to minimize a total area of the care areas that includes all the potential defects; 
 
 grouping the care areas, using a first set of spatial distances amongst the care areas, into fields of view (FOVs), wherein each FOV includes a respective group of the care areas such that 
 a number of the FOVs is an as few as possible number of FOVs based on available resources; 
 determining a set of spatial relationships between the FOVs; and 
 determining a path between the FOVs using the set of spatial relationships, wherein the path minimizes stage movement of the high-resolution inspection system; and 
 generating a recipe file based on the grouping the care areas and the path between the FOVs. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating care areas that each includes at least one potential defect comprises:
 determining a second set of spatial relationships between potential defects; and 
 grouping the potential defects within the care areas using the second set of spatial relationships. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the respective group of the care areas within is written to the recipe file contiguously. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the path between the FOVs comprises:
 assigning a respective weight between each pair of the fields of view; and 
 determining a shortest distance between the fields of view based on the respective weights. 
 
     
     
       5. A system for inspecting integrated circuits using a high-resolution inspection system that performs only beam deflection when scanning within any field of view (FOV) and performs stage movement when transitioning to scan within another FOV, the system comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to:
 generate care areas that each includes at least one potential defect; 
 cluster the care areas, based on a first set of spatial distances amongst the care areas, into fields of view (FOVs), each FOV comprising a respective groups of the care areas, wherein a spatial distance amongst a first care area and a second care area is a Euclidean distance between corresponding points of the first care area and the second care area; 
 determine a set of spatial relationships between the FOVs; and 
 determine a path between the FOVs using the set of spatial relationships, wherein the path minimizes stage movement of the high-resolution inspection system; and 
 generate a recipe file based on the care areas and the path. 
 
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5 , wherein to generate care areas that each includes at least one potential defect comprises to:
 determine a second set of spatial relationships between potential defects; and 
 group the potential defects within the care areas using the second set of spatial relationships. 
 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 6 , wherein to generate care areas that each includes at least one potential defect comprises:
 determine, for the care areas and using a second set of spatial relationships, respective care area sizes that minimize a total area of the care areas. 
 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the respective group of the care areas is written to the recipe file contiguously. 
     
     
       9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for inspecting integrated circuits using a high-resolution inspection system that performs only beam deflection when scanning within any field of view (FOV) and performs stage movement when transitioning to scan within another FOV, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 generating care areas that each includes at least one potential defect; 
 clustering, based on a first set of spatial distances amongst the care areas, the care areas into groups of care areas such that each group of care areas is covered by a field of view (FOV) of the high-resolution inspection system,
 wherein a spatial distance amongst a first care area and a second care area is a Euclidean distance between corresponding points of the first care area and the second care area, and 
 wherein the clustering resulting in a plurality of fields of view (FOVs); 
 
 determining a path between the plurality of FOVs using the set of spatial relationships, wherein the path minimizes stage movement of the high-resolution inspection system; and 
 generating a recipe file based on the clustering and the path. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the operations for generating care areas that each includes at least one potential defect comprise:
 generating potential defects; 
 determining a second set of spatial relationships between potential defects; and 
 grouping the potential defects within the care areas using the second set of spatial relationships. 
 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the operations for generating care areas that each includes at least one potential defect comprise:
 determining, for the care areas and using a second set of spatial relationships, respective care area sizes that minimize a total area of the care areas. 
 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one of the care areas within each field of view is written to the recipe file contiguously.